Firearms Use Escalation Not Supported After Kawhia Assault

Title: Escalation Of Firearms Use Not Supported
After Kawhia Assault On Policeman

The safety of
police staff is our highest priority and our focus is on
providing officers with the tools, training and support they
need to do their job safety, Commissioner Peter Marshall
said.

He called for “cool heads and calm minds” in
the wake of Friday night’s assault in Kawhia in which the
sole charge officer Constable Perry Griffen was beaten and
stripped of his OC spray, taser and pistol by a group of
angry people as he tried to arrest a young man wanted on
warrant.

The Commissioner said any assault on an officer
doing his or her lawful job was one too many. “It’s not
good enough and it should not happen, but putting it
perspective, policing is an inherently dangerous job. Our
people attend hundreds of calls for assistance every week
where an element of violence is present – people have
alcohol or drugs in their system, or are simply bad
individuals.

Most of the 1.8 million calls received
annually for service by our communications centres end with
out any real incident, regrettably there are some that end
up with our staff being assaulted.

The Commissioner said
that: “This is why we have in recent years included the
provision of the stab resistant body armour, and the rollout
of increased numbers of tasers and firearms into frontline
vehicles. This is supported by improved training of
tactical tools and support for staff in the use of these
tactical options.”

Using a firearm as the primary
weapon is not the tactic of choice. Each situation is
assessed on its merits starting with communication to
de-escalate events. De-escalation is not always possible
despite the very best efforts of the police officer or his
or her colleagues and this is when other tactical options
such as oc spray, the taser and ultimately the firearm can
be used.

“While the kinds of attacks seen on officers
in recent weeks are thankfully uncommon, they are reflective
of the risks that officers sometimes face in the course of
doing their duty to keep their community safe.

“The
recent spate of serious assaults on police which has left
officers bruised, bloodied and with broken bones is a
concern.

“Officer safety is a top priority and we take
any assault on any officer very seriously. We continually
think about how officer safety can be improved. Our
officers are trained to assess and manage risk and we
provide them with protection including body armour (SRBA and
ballistic vests when appropriate), OC pepper spray, batons,
the taser and in the most serious of situations they have
firearms available to them should they be required.

The
use of a firearm as the primary weapon in the Kawhia
incident was not appropriate and this was suppported by the
Kawhia officer and his supervisors. “This is not a time
for political point scoring exercises,” the Commissioner
said.

“Unfortunately risk is part of the policing job
and can never be eliminated, especially when assaults happen
with out warning.

“When officers are assaulted we do
review incidents to determine whether there are things we
could have done differently or aspects we can learn from.
It is too early to comment on what the outcome will be of
the debrief into the Kawhia incident – the priority is
getting Constable Perry Griffin well.

“I have spoken
with Constable Griffen this morning and in his words, he is
“keen to get back onto the saddle of the horse as quickly
as possible.” He will however receive a few days off
first.

“It is important to acknowledge the excellent
help Constable Griffen received from a group of local people
include local fightfighters and district council staff who
were present and responded to the officer’s activation of
his call alert button, another new safety innovation. We
are grateful for their speedy arrival and their help
demonstrates the close cooperation between those in
emergency services roles in rural communities.

When it
comes to the Kawhia situation, that was cowardly. But what
was really encouraging was the immediate response from
members of the public, including Kawhia volunteer firies to
help a mate who was in trouble.

“I have talked with the
senior person from the Kawhia Volunteer Fire Brigade today
to thank him and his colleagues.

“Policing isn’t an
activity that we can do alone. We all need to work together
to ensure there are good levels of safety in the community.
Thankfully the public recognises that and time and time
again good people come to our assistance to help deal with
drunks, thugs and other idiots, as well as helping us with
information to assist serious crime including rape and other
crimes of violence. Any community that becomes too
frightened to speak out, to know and respect the line
between right and wrong, will risk loosing its moral compass
and once that seed is planted it is very hard to root out."

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